Chapter Text
Braeden steps out the bathroom, wrapped up in a towel. Derek’s sitting cross-legged and shirtless on the dingy hotel bed, with the computer in front of him.
“—care of yourself, Scott. Talk to you soon.” Derek hangs up and puts the computer away, smiling softly.
When they first left the pack, after that nasty business at La Iglesia, Scott’s phone calls were irregular—usually he called when he needed Derek’s advice or wanted to give him important news. As time passed though, they got more frequent, and Derek started calling back. The big change was when they went back to Beacon Hills last Christmas, and Derek received a shiny new computer, courtesy of the group of teenagers. Actually seeing Scott on the screen hasn’t made Derek less likely to call him, rather the opposite. They call each other on Skype several times a week now. Braeden tries not to intrude on their conversations but Scott always asks after her, and she ends up chatting with him quite often as well. It’s not hard to see why Derek likes him.
Braeden lets the towel fall on the floor and grabs a tank top and underwear to wear to bed.
“Feeling better?” Derek asks. She can feel his appreciative glance following the lines of her body as she shrugs the clothes on.
“A lot.” She’s still bruised all over, but at least the dust and the blood are gone. Fucking wendigo.
She climbs on the bed and kisses Derek deeply, before cuddling up to him. Derek wraps an arm around her and his other hand begins tracing lazy patterns on her shoulder. Her eyes close, and she can feel the reassuring warmth of his body next to hers.
“How’s Scott?” she asks. Derek starts telling her about Scott’s troubles with his biology teacher, the cat he adopted, his newfound job at the campus library. She cracks an eye open to watch his face. He looks utterly besotted.
“…You do realise the two of you practically have a long distance relationship, right?” It’s a bit of a non sequitur, but she’s been thinking about having this discussion for a while.
Derek’s eyes widen. “What? No, we… I’m…” he splutters.
“Calm down. I’m not jealous. I know you love me. But it’s just obvious how much you miss him. I might be wrong, but I think you want to be with him too. So my point is, we should go pay him a visit.”
He exhales deeply, and Braeden can feel his body lose some of its tension. “You’re right. I wish I could see him face to face again.” He hesitates, still cautious, “And I do want him, though I doubt he wants that kind of relationship with me. But we’re still on the Desert Wolf’s trail. I know how important this is to you.”.
“It’s not the first time we’ve made a detour, baby,” she counters.
It’s true enough. In addition to their trip to Beacon Hills last year, they’ve also stopped from a few days to a couple of weeks here and there, helping out other supernatural beings or on the contrary stopping them. Over time they’ve found clues about the Desert Wolf, but some ended up being dead ends—Braeden knows that the more time passes, the less they have a chance of finding her. But she doesn’t want to stop having a life outside the search. Not this time.
“If you’re sure…” He sounds tentative, but hopeful.
“We can head out to San Diego in the morning. It’s time to take a holiday.” Honestly, she can’t wait to see Scott’s face when he finds them on his doorstep. And maybe she misses him, too.